Prison Where Inmate Was Killed Quit Videotaping Cell Extractions

September 9, 1999|By DAVID COX Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — More than a year before inmate Frank Valdes died a violent death at Florida State Prison, it was routine for prison staff to videotape any incident in which guards had to forcibly remove an inmate from his cell.

But the videotaping was halted in early 1998, so there is no tape of the incident that led to Valdes' death on July 17.

On Wednesday, state senators grilled Department of Corrections Secretary Michael Moore and his chief assistants on why the practice was stopped. Moore told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee that videotaping was discontinued shortly after James Crosby took over at the state prison because there was no statewide policy in place for videotaping "cell extractions."

Legislators say they're ready to consider changing state law to prevent similar incidents but admit they're at a standstill until the federal and state criminal investigation is concluded.

"I think I'm having a hard time understanding, if it used to be done, and this is the worst of the worst in the worst of the worst facilities, why that wasn't continued?" Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Spring Hill, asked Stan Czerniak, director of institutions for the Corrections Department.

"I think the warden's rationale was he was waiting for a procedure from Tallahassee that described how videotaping ...," Czerniak began, only to be interrupted by Brown-Waite.

"Is what you're saying that that [video] equipment was there but not being used?" Brown-Waite asked.

"There was equipment there, yes," Czerniak said.

Moore conceded later that it would have been good procedure to continue videotaping violent confrontations between guards and inmates, but there was no policy requiring it. He stressed that Crosby violated no rules by discontinuing the practice.

Moore said it is the fault of the entire corrections system, not of one warden, that videotaping is not standard practice throughout the state.

Nine prison guards have been placed on paid suspension pending the results of the criminal investigation into Valdes' death.

On Tuesday, Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Rod Smith got a judge's permission to convene a grand jury in Gainesville to investigate the case.

Sen. Skip Campbell, D-Tamarac, said most state prison employees do an honorable job but said legislators have a duty to get to the bottom of the Valdes incident

"I don't think we're talking about use of force here, I think we're talking about misuse of force," Campbell said. "I've probably been the No. 1 supporter for the corrections people for years, but when the good people become the criminals, that's when we've got to talk about not operations and management but mismanagement."